COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's swimming team extended its winning streak to 33 consecutive dual meets today, racing past Gettysburg, 189-73, in Centennial Conference action. The Bears broke five pool records, won their 20th consecutive conference dual, and handed the Bullets their first setback of the season. Senior Corinne Capodanno (Claymont, Del./Padua Academy) set new pool benchmarks in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle and contributed to another in the 400-yard freestyle relay to lead Ursinus' spectacular showing.
Ursinus (6-0, 3-0) wasted no time jumping all over visiting Gettysburg (5-1, 3-1), as freshman Peyten Lyons (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra), sophomore Olivia Tierney (Broomall, Pa./Villa Maria), freshman Clara Baker (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington), and senior Micaela Lyons (Plainfield, N.J./Wardlaw-Hartridge School) coasted to victory in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Their time of 1:49.12 established a new pool record and currently stands as the 12th-best mark in Division III.
Capodanno finished first in the 200-yard freestyle with a record-setting clocking of 1:55.93 (16th in Division III), while sophomore teammate Sydney Gunderson (Reading, Pa./Exeter) came in second (1:58.38). Peyten Lyons led another 1-2 finish in the next event, completing the 100-yard backstroke in a pool-record 59.36 seconds, almost four seconds ahead of classmate Samantha Kegel (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) and good for 21st nationally.
Tierney tacked on another triumph for the Bears, outdistancing three Bullet swimmers to touch the wall in 1:08.91 in the 100-yard breaststroke. That preceded an impressive performance in the 200-yard butterfly, where freshman Gabriella Timuscuk (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) was first in 2:12.45, ahead of junior Katie Pielmeier (Palmerton, Pa./Palmerton) in second and sophomore Katherine Porter (Sayre, Pa./Sayre) in third.
Micaela Lyons continued Ursinus' run of first-place finishes with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle, posting a time of 25.30 to edge out Baker by .11 seconds. Capodanno, who broke another pool record with a time of 53.74 (30th in Division III), and Gunderson (54.83) followed by taking the top two slots in the 100-yard freestyle before Peyten Lyons won her second individual title with a clocking of 2:10.59 in the 200-yard backstroke as Kegel swam second.
Tierney captured the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:28.39, and Capodanno touched the wall more than 10 seconds ahead of her competition in the 500-yard freestyle (5:12.33). Baker took the 100-yard butterfly in 58.45 as Porter was runner-up, and Pielmeier outpaced Tierney by .83 ticks in the 200-yard IM (2:15.38).
Ursinus polished off another rout with a 1-2 finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay; Baker, Capodanno, Gunderson, and Peyten Lyons won in a record time of 3:38.85 (13th in Division III), while sophomore Margaret Leitz (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby), Micaela Lyons, and juniors Marisa Ferrari (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East), and Alexandra Hemp (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppague) were second in 3:45.09.
The Bears return to the pool on Saturday, December 5, with a Centennial Conference dual meet at Swarthmore.